By Michael Brooks

WASHINGTON — As the Sept. 28 deadline approaches for Exelon and Pepco Holdings Inc. to appeal D.C. regulators’ rejection of their merger, Mayor Muriel Bowser is saying little to indicate how she feels about a second try by the companies to close the deal.

On Thursday, local officials and advocates rallied in front of the mayor’s office to urge Bowser to “stand firm” against Exelon and Pepco, amid talk that the companies are lobbying her administration with extra concessions designed to secure her support before they request that the D.C. Public Service Commission reconsider the deal.

Councilwoman Mary Cheh said that the companies want to be able to go before the PSC with the mayor and city’s attorney general saying that additional ratepayer credits — “or whatever little kind of trinket they’re going to throw our way” — now make the deal in the public benefit.

“Right now, believe me, sort of slithering around the district building and other parts of our government are Exelon and Pepco representatives trying to work out some deal that will steal from us the victory that we won on the merits before the Public Service Commission,” Cheh said.

Last week, Exelon placed full-page ads in The Washington Post proclaiming that the “merger is too important to fail,” which opponents at the rally held up as evidence that the companies have not given up.

But even as The Post reported Friday that administration officials are internally discussing whether a revamped deal is possible and that Pepco has warned the administration that rates would go up if the deal was not approved, Bowser has remained taciturn. Cheh told RTO Insider that the council has been “left in the dark” by the mayor.

Speaking on the Kojo Nnamdi radio show Friday, Bowser declined to say whether she’s had any discussions with Exelon, only saying that she agreed with the PSC’s decision last month that the deal, as proposed, was not in the public interest. (See DC Halts Exelon’s Acquisition of Pepco Holdings.)

Bowser also declined to say whether she wanted to support the merger. Noting that other states have approved the deal with concessions, she said, “We’re not them. And it’s always been my position that they have to have in front of us something specific to the District of Columbia that addresses my concerns.”

But ultimately, Bowser said, “whether I think they come to terms or not, the Public Service Commission has to approve or disapprove the merger and then it would follow the legal course beyond that.”

The PSC would have 30 days after the companies file an appeal to make a decision. The companies could turn to the courts as a final recourse, Bowser acknowledged.

“We continue to hear from both sides and our position hasn’t changed — any merger has to be in the best interest of district residents and taxpayers,” Bowser spokesman Michael Czin said in a statement.

“Today we just have two words for Mayor Bowser: Madame Mayor, stand firm,” said the Rev. Earl D. Trent, pastor of the Florida Avenue Baptist Church, at Thursday’s rally. “Stand firm; do not settle for the quick fix. Stand firm against the blistering winds of compromise that Exelon is surely offering. … Stand firm and back the PSC’s decision. Your constituents have clearly spoken.”